Volunteering is not seasonal help out year around

By Maria Perry |Staff Writer|

We tend to spend so much time emphasizing what we want to get during the holidays that we forget about giving and volunteering.

I think that volunteering has become viewed as a seasonal activity because we tend to think more about giving to others during the holiday season than throughout the rest of the year.

“I think it is the time of year when people think about what they are grateful for,” said student Kathleen Ashbaker. “And they want to help people that are less fortunate than themselves who perhaps don’t have as much.”

One of the main problems that makes volunteering hard during other times of the year is that people have to devote more time into work and school than relaxation. Adding on time to volunteer can be too exhausting, especially when they already had a hard day at work.

“The hardest part would have to be the time commitment,” said student Pari Aryafar.“But I think if you could help someone, you would any way you can and donating a few hours of your time a week could make that happen.”

Most people have a little more time over the holidays because they have time off from school and work so they can commit more time to family, friends, and community events, and that allows them more time to volunteer.

The holiday season also has a way of making people think about how blessed they are in their lives a little bit, as well, reminding them that others may not be as blessed as they are because they don’t have as much access to necessities as others do.

Perhaps it is better to think of volunteering as more of a pleasure than a chore because it is rewarding in that volunteers give back to their community by helping the less fortunate live safer, healthier and happier lives.

“The most rewarding thing about volunteering would be the feeling of doing something good without being asked to do it,” said student Kaithlyn Huntington.

When asked how she felt when she volunteered student Juana Juarez said,“While I volunteer I plainly just feel happy because I naturally love helping whether it’s nonprofitable or profitable it just feels good having to help others.”

People should volunteer because it is the humane thing to do and not just because the holidays are almost here.

People need help being fed, bathed and sheltered all times of the year.

In a sense volunteering is like a gift to both the giver and reciever.

This is because the less fortunate gets necessities and love, and the volunteer receives the happiness that they have given someone hope or the strength to keep going by letting them know that there is someone that cares.

So this year people should try to make a resolution to be the start of a solution for those in need throughout the year and not just throughout the season.